


Three Nights

by scarvesandjumpers



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Fluff, Found Family, Light Angst, Post-Canon, Pre-Canon, angus's parents aren't BAD they're just busy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-31
Updated: 2017-04-16
Packaged: 2018-10-13 04:42:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10506519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scarvesandjumpers/pseuds/scarvesandjumpers
Summary: Three nights in the life of Angus McDonald, boy detective.





	1. Age: 8

It was dark, cold, and bitter out as Angus made his way home. Flurries of snow whirled past him as he hurried down familiar streets and pavement, and Angus tugged his coat tighter around himself, tucking his red nose into his scarf and shivering. He was tired, but satisfied after the conclusion of a long, grueling case. He had a dark purple bruise blooming on his cheek - a gift from the serial arsonist he'd tracked down in the last hours of his investigation. All he wanted was a warm meal, kind words, and a long sleep.  
  
The tall three-story brick townhome he'd always lived in came into view, and Angus smiled brightly. The lights were off, but maybe, just maybe, his parents would still be up - he was thrumming with excitement, eager to tell them all about the case now that he was legally allowed to.  
  
Of course, the house was quiet as the grave when he let himself in. Despite himself, he was disappointed. Angus's smile fell as he closed and locked the door behind himself, but he forced himself to keep it on his face. It was fine. It was perfectly fine. It wouldn't do to let himself get all sad. He'd done something wonderful today. He was proud of himself.

Angus tucked his shoes neatly against the hallway wall and hung up his coat and scarf, then padded into the kitchen. He flicked on the lights and made himself a quick bowl of Fantasy Cheerios - he was just a little boy, after all, and wasn't allowed to use the stove. He ate at the table in silence, then dutifully rinsed out his bowl and put away the cereal and milk. A quick cup of water, then bedtime.

His bedroom was dark and quiet. His sheets were ice cold, and he shivered as he sunk into it, curling in on himself. He backed himself up to the wall and shoved a pillow behind his back, then curled up as tight as he could, blankets pulled over his nose and eyes screwed shut. Now and then he shivered, but eventually the blankets and bed warmed up and he relaxed.

It took a while for him to feel sleepy, but when he did manage to sleep it was light and dreamless. When he woke in the morning his parents had already left for their respective jobs, but there was a letter from his grandfather waiting for him on the kitchen table, and he missed him.

He spent his morning writing a letter back, and finished just in time for school.

 


	2. Age: 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was one in the morning and Angus was a teeny, tiny, itsy-bitsy, very much lost.

It was one in the morning and Angus was a teeny, tiny, itsy-bitsy, very much lost.  
  
It was embarrassing, really. Angus had been living on the moon for a few months now, and, not to brag, but he was a very clever little boy. He knew his way around the moon base - well, at least his favorite, most-traveled places. And seeing as how he was just leaving the library to head to his bunk for bed he definitely should have been able to navigate the dimmed hallways without any trouble.  
But it was one in the morning, and Angus was tired, and he was lost. He'd gotten up early that morning out of an excitement that refused to dim even after joining the bureau three months ago (It was a mystery! On the moon!) and hadn't gotten much sleep the night before (the MOON!) Seeing as how he was just a little boy hiccups like this were to be expected, but it was still a tiny bit embarrassing.  
  
And distressing. Angus made another turn, letting out a worried little sigh when he was led into another unfamiliar corridor. Darn it. His eyes drooped, and Angus stifled a ferocious little yawn, hiking his overstuffed bookbag higher up on his shoulder and moving ever slower through the hall in search of something familiar, but nothing came. What if he ended up falling asleep on his feet? That had happened before. He'd felt incredibly disoriented the next day, like he had a little gnome poking at him behind his ears and in his achy feet. What if he wandered into somewhere he wasn't supposed to be and stumbled upon some horrific secret? They'd probably feed his existence to the Voidfish if he did that, and it wouldn't even be worth it because he would have discovered it on accident.  
  
What if he woke up and everything was a dream?  
  
The thought made Angus stagger on the spot, and he topped to the side, whamming his shoulder into the wall and huffing. His eyes widened, lip trembled. The more he thought about it, the more anxious he became.  
  
What if it was all a dream? What if everything - the bureau, the Voidfish, the relics, The Director, Killian and Carey, Johan and Avi, Mr. Taako and Mr. Magnus and Mr. Merle - what if it was all a dream? What if he woke up and he was in his cold, quiet bedroom, his parents on the way out the door and his grandfather far away? No one around to poke fun at him, no one to make him laugh, no one to call him by the wrong name as they hand him a warm plate of cookies, no one to show him how to make his own field journals by hand, no one to gruffly, gently shove and prod him onto the soft carpet again and again until he was a giggling mess -  
  
Angus's eyes stung, and he curled into a ball, sinking down the wall and crouching on the ground. Now more than ever he tried to keep his eyes open, shoulders shaking and miserable little tears trailing down his cheeks.  
  
What if he didn't have any friends?  
  
The thought barely left his head when a voice cut into the static of his brain and brought him back to reality. Merle. There, standing at the end of the hallway, a six pack of Fantasy Clamatos tucked under his arm. His expression was a familiar one - annoyed and grumpy and just barely, barely fond. Angus hurriedly wiped at his cheek, pushing himself up and trying to calm down enough to ask him if he would please mind helping him find his room, thank you. He could feel himself trembling, feel his cheeks burning with barely contained worriment. So many tells. If he weren't so tired he'd be embarrassed - he was a detective, after all, so he should have known how to control himself a bit better, this was all so humiliating, Merle already didn't like him much and here he was acting like a baby -  
  
Merle stomped past him, waving his free arm at him to follow, and in a blink he was gone around the corner. Angus scrambled to follow, tripping over confused feet and keeping quiet. Merle strode through the halls with confidence and absolute silence. It clicked where they were headed when they stopped in front of a tall, sleek elevator door; the personal quarters of the Reclaimers.  
  
Angus didn't make a peep as he watched Merle call the elevator, tapping one bunny-slippered foot impatiently. The doors parted, and Angus scurried after Merle and pressed the single button on the interior panel for him. (He heard Merle snort something that sounded a lot like 'kiss ass', but didn't comment). The doors parted again, and Angus was in their home.  
  
Taako was pretzeled up on a large, cushy accent chair catty corner to the sofa, where Magnus was sprawled out with a puppy-printed blanket over his lap, both of them loudly arguing about whatever was playing on the television - a reality show about fashion or something. Merle stomped past him to the dimly lit kitchen just in sight of the cluttered common-space-cum-living-room, and after hovering awkwardly at the door for a moment Magnus called him over. Merle returned, Clamato in hand, and spread out on the floor, legs crossed. Angus sat next to Magnus, who immediately tossed a corner of the blanket on his lap over his legs and asked him, very seriously, what he thought about Janessa's dress. Within ten minutes Angus was smiling.  
  
The night was a blur after that. Angus started fading fast as one episode shifted into another; the Reclaimers kept arguing, though in hushed tones rather than shouts, and at some point Angus felt someone extract his bookbag and take off his glasses; he woke curled up on the sofa, Magnus's puppy blanket fully covering him and a pillow under his head.  
  
Taako made white-chocolate macadamia nut muffins for breakfast. Angus sat in Magnus's lap while they ate, and when he said 'good morning and thank you' to Merle, he, reluctantly, said 'you're welcome'. He even smiled a bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> merle drinks fantasy clamatos and i will fight you if you say otherwise. also he secretly likes ango but like dont let him KNOW or anything, it might get to his head.


	3. Age: 14

"Thank you for the lovely party, Angus. It was such a nice surprise - the best birthday I've ever had, I think."  
  
Angus beamed, leaning against the opened door of his home as he helped Lucretia finish loading her (many, many) gifts into her bag. It was late - nearly midnight - and the festivities had lasted much longer than any of them anticipated. It was (technically) Lucretia's thirty-third birthday despite the fact that she was physically much older, and after many, many months of careful planning and secrecy the various veteran members of the Bureau of Balance had banded together to throw their former Director a party. It was easily one of the best days of his life, right behind the night he solved his first case and the day he and the Tres Horny Boys finished moving into their new shared home.  
  
"You're welcome, Ma'am. I'm glad you had a nice time! I'll make sure everyone gets some sleep before we meet up tomorrow. Make sure you get lots and lots of sleep!"  
  
Lucretia laughed, cheeks pink. "I'll do my best. You remember to get sleep, too, alright? Don't let our boys bully you into doing all of the clean up." She gave Angus a quick kiss to the cheek, then took her leave. Angus let out satisfied little sigh, then shut and locked the door and went to the kitchen.  
  
Their home was huge and warm, all dark wood and faded leather and wallpaper. It was often cluttered, a mish-mash of little whittled knick-nacks made by Magnus, plants in varying states of life, and the occasional abandoned stiletto heel or patterned scarf from Taako's bedroom. Angus mostly kept his things to his bedroom, but there were signs of his presence in each room as well; framed pictures of him shaking hands with various clients, the occasional drawing or gifted craft for his guardians, or half-read books stuffed in couch cushions and chairs. It wasn't just Magnus, Merle, and Taako's home that he happened to live in; it was theirs, and it felt like it. He loved that.  
  
Angus planted himself in the kitchen, listening to the loud, slightly drunk chatter of his friends in the living room as he cleaned dishes and organized left over food. He stifled a loud, overwhelming yawn, nudging his glasses up into his hair and rubbing his eyes with the driest part of his soapy hand. Taako had really pulled out all the stops - six full courses, plus three different desserts and homemade ice cream to boot. They wouldn't have to cook for days which was probably good. Taako's anxiety had been through the roof during the whole meal-preparation process, even after he'd taken every single precaution he could to ensure everyone would be safe. It helped that all of it had been absolutely delicious. Harder to fear the best food one's ever made. Angus finished stacking plates and cups, dried his hands on a dishtowel, and let out a satisfied little sigh. Done.  
  
Taako was sprawled out on the sofa, one leg hooked over the back cushions and the other on the floor, sans-shoes and shirt, loudly patterned skirt bunched up around his thighs and a back issue of Fantasy Cosmo in his hands. He'd obviously elected to keep his roll more managerial than hands on, which made sense for Taako. Merle, similarly, was sitting upside-down in his usual overstuffed armchair, wooden arm on the coffee table. He scratched at his stub arm and loudly, grumpily critiqued Magnus's attempts at cleaning; the burly man hadn't seemed to notice the gigantic hole in the bottom of his trash bag, and each time he shoved another handful of solo cups and paper plates into the bag, another pile slipped out by his feet.  
  
Angus made himself at home on the sofa, lifting one of Taako's legs and letting it fall into his lap. "Hey, bubula," Taako absently sighed, flicking another page in his magazine. He wrinkled his nose at what he saw and groaned, tossing the magazine over his shoulder and crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm bored now. Bored and tired and. Yeah. Maggie, are you done making a dick of yourself yet?"  
  
"Nope," Magnus cheerily replied, popping the P with a cheeky grin. Angus laughed, stretching his legs and pointing his socked toes. He yawned loudly - "You and me both, Agnes," Merle grunted - and Taako gave his side a nudge with his foot.  
  
"Quit that shit, you'll make - make all of us - " he cut himself off with a colossal yawn, then let out an unflattering shriek of frustration and rolled off of the couch in a mess of long legs and flapping feet.  
  
"Fuck! Okay, fuck this. Bedtime." He flattened the front of his skirt as if it mattered, then hopped to his feet and motioned at Angus to move. "Come on. We're sleeping out here. Too much work going upstairs. Magnus, make yourself actually useful and pull out the bed."  
  
"Okiedoke."  
  
Angus hopped off of the couch and tried not to let his excitement show. He loved when they did this - most nights they went to sleep in their respective bedrooms, but every once in a very little while when they were all just a touch too tired and lazy to go upstairs to their rooms they'd gather together on their specially made extra big pull-out couch.  
  
Merle rolled off of his chair and went to get some blankets and pillows from the hall closet for all of them. "I'm getting a blanket for each of us, and I swear to god, Magnus, if you even touch my blanket tonight you'll be the one waking up with shrivled up, frozen balls," he groused. Magnus answered him with a high-pitched, punch drunk giggle and received a blanket to the face in response.  
  
Angus helped Magnus pull the cushions off of the couch and pull out the mattress, adjusting the sheet they never bothered to change and arranging their pillows. The four of them proceeded to crawl onto the bed, Angus settling in last so he could quickly finish shutting off the lights.  
  
The four of them curled up together, Angus sandwiched between Merle and Taako and Magnus's huge, thick arm draped over all of them. Angus fell asleep to the sound of his guardians - his friends - his family softly bickering.  
  
They slept in late just because they could and had left over ice cream for breakfast.  
  
It was wonderful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was originally gonna try to go no-dialoge for the whole story but the vision i had for post-BOB just like wouldn't work without it so i adjusted. thanks so much for all of the kind comments and compliments! if y'all are interested in more from me let me know and i'll definitely start plaiyng around with any other plot bunnies i might have!

**Author's Note:**

> more to come! thanks again to hyattdeath for betaing


End file.
